Culture Scene: Jan. 16-22

Published 3:52 pm, Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Gallery

Other Desert Cities: Houston premiere of Jon Robin Baitz's Tony-nominated play about a prodigal daughter who returns to her affluent, conservative family with plans to publish a memoir that would unearth long-buried family secrets. 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays, through Feb. 2; Alley Theatre, 615 Texas; $26-$75; 713-220-5700, alleytheatre.org.

Into the Woods: Main Street Theater stages an intimate revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Tony-winning 1987 musical that combines several familiar fairy tales (and one new one), with unexpected results, as each character's well-meaning quest complicates the efforts of the others. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, through Feb. 16; Main Street Theater, 2540 Times; 713-524-6706.

Failure: A Love Story: Regional premiere of Philip Dawkins' fable about the lives and untimely deaths of the Fail sisters, told through the eyes of a young man who loves each of them in turn. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Jan. 23; opens at 8 p.m. Jan. 24; through Feb. 16; Stages Repertory Theatre, 32012 Allen Parkway; $19-$45; 713-527-0123, stagestheatre.com.

We Will Rock You: Theatre Under the Stars presents the comic musical, built around 24 songs by Queen, set in the future on a planet once called Earth. Opens at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays, through Feb. 2; Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby; $24-$125; 713-558-8887, tuts.com.

A Raisin in the Sun: Lorraine Hansberry's classic drama about an African-American family in 1950s Chicago striving to improve their circumstances by escaping the rundown tenements and buying a house of their own. 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, through Feb. 3; Houston Family Arts Center, Garza Mainstage, 10760 Grant; $20-$20; 281-685-6374, houstonfac.org.

How the Other Half Loves: Alan Ayckbourn's ingenious farce plays games with time and space, juggling three couples, assorted affairs, and two dinner parties that take place on separate evenings but play out on stage simultaneously. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Theater Southwest, 8944A Clarkcrest; $17; 713-661-9505, theatresouthwest.org.

The Broken Consort: The Boston-based early music ensemble, combining instrumentalists and singers, performs a program called "Muses, Modes and Magic," mixing medieval music with modern works that complements it. 7:30 p.m. Friday; Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, 4930 W. Bellfort; $40; 281-846-4222, houstonearlymusic.org.

The Passenger: Houston Grand Opera presents the U.S. premiere of the Holocaust-themed drama by Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Set about 1960, it focuses on a former concentration-camp overseer traveling on an ocean liner, where she sees a fellow passenger who may be a former prisoner. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Wednesday and Jan. 25 and 31; 2 p.m. Feb. 2; Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas; $20-$290; 713-228-6737, houstongrandopera.org.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: Exhibits include "The Age of Impressionism," through March 23; "Roads of Arabia," through March 9; "Antonio Berni: Juanito and Ramona," through Jan. 26; "American Adversaries: West and Copley in a Transatlantic World," through Jan. 19; and "Koloman Moser: Designing Modern Vienna 1897-1907," through Sunday; $7.50-$15; 5601 Main; 713-639-7300, mfah.org.